Markets are awaiting the Canadian interest rate decision within hours; with most expectations support that the Bank of Canada maintaining its current monetary policy unchanged at 1.25%.The decision is accompanied by a statement of interest, which is closely watched by investors to infer the direction of the bank in the coming period.
At the last meeting, the bank boosted its growth forecast, with GDP rising 2.0% in 2018 and 2019 and 1.8% in 2020. But the governor of the bank, Poloz, noted that the weakness in the economy in the first quarter was due to slower export growth and the housing market and this is only a temporary period as foreign demand and investment in business improve.
It is expected that BOC confirm today that the decision to raise interest rates will depend on economic data, as the bank will prefer to wait for the release of GDP data in the second quarter of 2018 and to survey the business outlook before taking any new measures.
On the other hand, oil prices were able to compensate for recent losses that pushed prices to a six-week low during yesterdays trading. Crude oil rose 0.30% to $67 a barrel, while Brent crude rose 0.60% to $75.85 a barrel.
